1.
National League
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Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series, after the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016, the 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was dangerously weak, additionally, Hulbert had a problem—five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means. Hulbert had a vested interest in creating his own league. After recruiting St. Louis privately, four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the N. A. Hartford Dark Blues from the N. A. Mutual of New York from the N. A. St. Louis Brown Stockings from the N. A, the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia, often called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22,1876, at Philadelphias Jefferson Street Grounds, 25th & Jefferson, the new leagues authority was tested after the first season. The National League operated with six clubs during 1877 and 1878, over the next several years, various teams joined and left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight members had folded. The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain in operation today as the Atlanta Braves, in 1883 the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began National League play. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies in their original city, the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The A. A. played in cities where the NL did not have teams, offered Sunday games and alcoholic beverages in locales where permitted, the National League and the American Association participated in a version of the World Series seven times during their ten-year coexistence. These contests were less organized than the modern Series, lasting as few as three games and as many as fifteen, with two Series ending in disputed ties, the NL won four times and the A. A. only once, in 1886. Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1887, the National League began to raid the American Association for franchises to replace NL teams that folded and this undercut the stability of the A. A. Other new leagues that rose to compete with the National League were the Union Association, the Union Association was established in 1884 and folded after playing only one season, its league champion St. Louis Maroons joining the NL. The NL suffered many defections of star players to the Players League, the Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York franchises of the NL absorbed their Players League counterparts. The labor strife of 1890 hastened the downfall of the American Association, after the 1891 season, the A. A. disbanded and merged with the NL, which became known legally for the next decade as the National League and American Association
2.
Troy, New York
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Troy is a city in the U. S. State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the edge of Rensselaer County. Troy has close ties to the cities of Albany and Schenectady. The city is one of the three centers for the Albany Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 1,170,483. At the 2010 census, the population of Troy was 50,129, troja est, which means Ilium was, Troy is. Before European arrival, the area was settled by the Mahican Indian tribe, the Dutch began settling in the mid 17th century, the patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer called the area Pafraets Dael, after his mother. Control of New York passed to the English in 1664 and in 1707 Derick Van der Heyden purchased a farm near todays downtown area, in 1771, Abraham Lansing had his farm in todays Lansingburgh laid out into lots. Responding to Lansings success to the north, in 1787, Van der Heydens grandson Jacob had his extensive holdings surveyed and laid out into lots as well, in 1789, Troy got its current name after a vote of the people. In 1791, Troy was incorporated as a town and extended east across the county to the Vermont line, in 1796, Troy became a village and in 1816 it became a city. Lansingburgh, to the north, became part of Troy in 1900, prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Mohican Indians had a number of settlements along the Hudson River near the confluence with the Mohawk River. The land comprising the Poesten Kill and Wynants Kill areas were owned by two Mohican groups, the land around the Poesten Kill was owned by Skiwias and was called Panhooseck. The area around the Wynants Kill, was known as Paanpack, was owned by Peyhaunet, the land between the creeks, which makes up most of downtown and South Troy, was owned by Annape. South of the Wynants Kill and into present-day North Greenbush, the land was owned by Pachquolapiet and these parcels of land were sold to the Dutch between 1630 and 1657 and each purchase was overseen and signed by Skiwias, the sachem at the time. In total, more than 75 individual Mohicans were involved in deed signings in the 17th century, the site of the city was a part of Rensselaerswyck, a patroonship created by Kiliaen van Rensselaer. Dirck Van der Heyden was one of the first settlers, in 1707, he purchased a farm of 65 acres which in 1787 was laid out as a village. One skeleton was female and Caucasian with an iron ring, the other was Native-American and male. The name Troy was adopted in 1789 before which it had known as Ashleys Ferry. The township included Brunswick and Grafton, Troy became a village in 1801 and was chartered as a city in 1816
3.
Horace Phillips (baseball)
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Horace B. Phillips was an American manager in Major League Baseball for eight seasons, from 1879 to 1889. He managed one season for the Troy Trojans, one season for the Columbus Buckeyes and he was born in Salem, Ohio. On June 6,1882, Phillips was arrested in Philadelphia for not paying a bill from 1882. He claimed that A. J. Reach was put in charge of paying it, shortly after his time in Pittsburgh, Phillips was institutionalized for mental illness in the Kirkbrides Asylum in Philadelphia, then later in a private hospital in Merchantville, New Jersey. His wife divorced him in 1894, horace Phillips managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference. com Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
4.
Bob Ferguson (infielder)
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Robert Vavasour Ferguson was an American infielder, league official, manager and umpire in the early days of baseball, playing both before and after baseball became a professional sport. In addition to playing and managing, he served as president of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players from 1872 through 1875, the sports first entirely professional league. His character and unquestioned honesty were highly regarded during a period in history where the games reputation was badly damaged by gamblers and rowdy behavior by players. However, his bad temper and stubbornness were traits that created trouble for him at times during his career and his nickname, Death to Flying Things, was derived from his greatness as a defensive player. A native of Brooklyn, Ferguson played for two of New Yorks earliest semi-professional clubs in the late 1860s and early 1870s, the Atlantics and this win brought to an end the Red Stockings 81 consecutive game winning streak. He is credited with being the first player to bat from both sides of home plate, known as switch-hitting, but the practice was not popular at first. Among the explanations for this, it is claimed that, due to his personality, in 1871, Ferguson took over the Mutual team as the player-manager. In 33 games, he batted.241, while the finished with a 16–17 record. As manager, Ferguson insisted upon implicit obedience from his men, for the 1872 season, Ferguson re-joined his Atlantics team, which was now a member of the National Association as well, and he would stay there through the 1874 season. In 1872, he was elected by the players to be the president of the National Association, an office he held through the 1875 season, the last season of the Association. On September 1,1872, Ferguson arranged a game for Al Thake, a 22-year-old left fielder for the Atlantics. The old Brooklyn Atlantics and Members of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings played against each other in the benefit game. While serving as an umpire during a game between the Baltimore Canaries and Mutuals on July 24,1873, Ferguson received continuous, loud. Ferguson and Hicks got into an altercation at the conclusion of the game, Ferguson required a police escort to leave the playing field, and Hicks refused to press charges and the two reconciled afterwards. During the final season of the Association, he played and managed the Hartford Dark Blues, when the Association dissolved, his Hartford team was accepted into the National League for its inaugural season in 1876, and Ferguson became a League Director. As a league official, he was involved in a decision that season. The case involved Jim Devlin, pitcher for the Louisville Grays, Devlin wanted to be released from his contract, claiming that Louisville had failed to fulfill the terms of his contract. Surrounding Devlin were rumors that he took money from gamblers to throw games, Ferguson, along with fellow league directors, ruled in favor of the Grays Vice-President Charles Chase, and Devlin was ordered to remain with the Grays
5.
Troy Trojans (MLB team)
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The Troy Trojans were a Major League Baseball team in the National League for four seasons from 1879 to 1882. Overall, the franchise won 131 games and lost 194, on September 28,1882, only 6 fans appeared to watch Worcester host the Trojans in the second-to-last game of the season, then only 25 arrived for the last game between the two teams. Among games that have had at least one paying attendee, the figure of 6 is the lowest attendance ever recorded at a Major League baseball game. In 1883 the New York Gothams, later becoming the New York and San Francisco Giants, four of the original Gotham players were former members of the disbanded Trojans, including three Hall of Famers, Buck Ewing, Roger Connor and Mickey Welch. A previous team named the Union Base Ball Club Lansingburgh was organized in 1860, the successor to the Victories of Troy and that team was given the nickname Haymakers by a defeated New York City team. Notable players for the Trojans included Hall of Famers Dan Brouthers, Connor, Ewing, Tim Keefe, another Troy Trojans minor league team would continue play until at least 1916. 1879 Troy Trojans season 1880 Troy Trojans season 1881 Troy Trojans season 1882 Troy Trojans season Troy Trojans all-time roster Baseball-Reference. com Everything2
6.
Road (sports)
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A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions, each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games. When a team is not the host, it must travel to games. Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the team, the visiting team, or the away team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team, major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each teams home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other. Occasionally, the team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies, a few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will play in regional leagues or groundshare. The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U. S. college sports in the 21st century, while regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U. S. or even outside the country entirely. In turn, this has led to the use of true road game to refer to contests played at one home venue. In some association football leagues, particularly in Europe, the teams fans sit in their own section. Depending on the stadium, they will either sit in a designated section or be separated from the home fans by a cordon of police officers. However, in the leagues in England, supporters may be free to mix. When games are played at a site, for instance the FA Cup final in England which is always played at Wembley Stadium. This results in each team occupying one half of the stadium and this is different from other sports, particularly in North America, where very few fans travel to games played away from their home stadium. Home and away fans are not separated at these games
7.
George Bradley
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George Washington Bradley, nicknamed Grin, was an American Major League Baseball player who was a pitcher and infielder. He was 510.5 and weighed 175 lbs. Bradley threw the first official no-hit and he pitched for the St. Louis Brown Stockings in the clubs victory over the Hartford Dark Blues on July 15,1876. The score ended 2-0 without a hit being allowed by Bradley and that year, he completed 63 of St. Louis 64 games, winning 45 and leading the league with a 1.23 earned run average. He also threw 16 shutouts, setting a record that has not been broken, after 1876, Bradley was not as effective as a pitcher and played mostly other positions after 1879. He was involved in baseball for 30 years,19 of them with the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1883, he was the regular third baseman and also went 16-7 on the mound to help the As win the American Association championship. In 1887, he served as a player-manager for the Nashville Blues of the Southern League, Bradley became a Philadelphia police officer following his baseball career. He died in Philadelphia at his home on October 2,1931, at the time of his death, he was retired on a pension from the police department which he had received beginning in September 1931. Bradley was interred at the Northwood Cemetery in Philadelphia
8.
Gid Gardner
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Franklin Washington Gid Gardner was a Major League Baseball player during the 19th century. Between 1879 and 1888, Gardner played all or part of seven seasons for eight different teams in three different major leagues and he appeared in 199 games, mostly as an outfielder, but also spent some time as a second baseman and pitcher. He had a batting average of.233 and a pitching record of 2–12. Gardner was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1859 and he played on several amateur baseball teams in Cambridge until 1878. In 1879, he started his baseball career with the National Associations Worcester Grays. He then joined the National Leagues Troy Trojans and made his league debut on August 23. He pitched in two games for Troy that year and lost both, the following season, Gardner played for the Cleveland Blues, he made nine starts, going 1–8 with a 2.57 earned run average. Gardner spent 1881 in the Eastern Championship Association and 1882 in the League Alliance and he started 1883 with the Camden Merritts of the Interstate Association, but the team disbanded in July, and he was acquired by the American Associations Baltimore Orioles. Gardner was mostly an outfielder for Baltimore, over the rest of the season, he played in 42 games and batted.273. Gardner started 1884 with the Orioles and he played 41 games for them, batting.214, and then finished the season in the Union Association, batting.255 there. He returned to Baltimore in 1885 and hit.218 while playing mostly at second base, Gardner then went back down to the minors in 1886. He played 56 games for the Southern Associations Charleston Seagulls and batted.262, in 1887, he became captain of the New England Leagues Boston Blues, where he reached the height of his fame, and also appeared in 18 games for the National Leagues Indianapolis Hoosiers. While at Indianapolis, Gardner became part of the first known platoon arrangement in baseball, Gardner had a.175 batting average in his 18 games. In October 1887, Gardner was traded to the Washington Nationals and he played one game for Washington before being traded in May 1888, to the Philadelphia Quakers, for Cupid Childs and cash. Gardner appeared in one game for Philadelphia, but Childs refused to report to the Nationals, Gardner returned to Washington and played his final major league game on May 29. In 1889, Gardner played for the Central Interstate Leagues Evansville Hoosiers, in early 1890, he signed with the John P. Lovell semi-professional team, and by August was with a team based in Norwich, Connecticut. Gardner then ended his baseball career the following season with Worcester of the New England League. After his baseball days were over, Gardner lived in Cambridge and had no steady employment and he was working as a traveling salesman when, in 1914, he was confined to the Cambridge Hospital for several weeks before dying of an aneurysm of the aorta
9.
Fred Goldsmith (baseball)
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Fredrick Elroy Goldsmith was a right-handed pitcher in 19th-century professional baseball in both the U. S. and Canada. In his prime, Goldsmith was six-foot-one-inch tall and weighed 195 pounds, Cummings was also the first president of the International Association when he pitched for the Lynn Live Oaks. Sportscaster-American actor Bill Stern waded into the debate in 1949 with a favorite story firmly crediting Goldsmith as the inventor, further, an article in the August 2,1938, London Free Press indicates that former Major League pitcher Nick Altrock also believed that Goldsmith invented the curveball. Altrock and Goldsmith were in London, Ontario, for an Old Boys Reunion and afternoon game at Labatt Park between a team from Battle Creek, Michigan, and a London Seniors team. Ironically, Cummings was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, per censuses, Freds birth year more correctly is 1856. Per living family members, Freds birthname is actually Frederick Elroy Goldsmith, pitching for the Chicago White Stockings, Goldsmith had four seasons with 20 wins or more,1880,1881,1882,1883. Goldsmiths win-loss percentage of.622 does not include his games in New Haven or in London, Ontario, Canada, with the International Association pennant winners, the London Tecumsehs. During Goldsmiths five-season stint pitching for the Chicago White Stockings, he played with first baseman Cap Anson and for team President Al Spalding, Goldsmiths final game in the pro ranks was on September 10,1884. List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders Bill Sterns Favorite Baseball Stories by Bill Stern, fred Goldsmith Invented The Curve Ball by Howard Broughton, Assistant Sports Editor, The London Free Press, June 21,1939. Nick Altrock Is Here For Today by Howard Broughton, The London Free Press, cheering for the Home Team, The Story of Baseball in Canada by William Humber. Old Time Baseball and the London Tecumsehs of the late 1870s by Les Bronson, available in the London Room of the London Public Library, Main Branch. Goldies Curve Ball Official book site
10.
Bill Holbert
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William Henry Holbert was a catcher in the National League and American Association baseball leagues, playing from 1876 through 1888. He holds the Major League record for career at-bats without a home run, however, he was playing in an era when triples were more common than home runs, due to the spacious parks and poor quality of the balls used. Bill Holbert started his career with the nascent Louisville Grays of 1876 and he sat out the 1877 year and, in 1878, played for the Milwaukee Grays, followed by the Syracuse Stars, and the Troy Trojans. Holbert is also credited with managing one game, a loss and he stayed with the Trojans, and the National League, until 1883, when he joined the New York Metropolitans of the new American Association. The Metropolitans traded him to the Brooklyn Bridegrooms after the 1887 season, Bill Holbert retired in 1888, playing just 15 games with the Bridegrooms that year. When the new Players League started up in 1890, Holbert was one of the original umpires, Bill Holberts career batting average was a weak.208, with a slugging average at a very low.237. Although batting averages were generally low in the 19th century and more so for catchers, the 1879 Syracuse Stars, for example, had a team average of only.227, while Holbert hit.201. Holberts best year was 1881, with Troy, when he hit.278, even that year, nearly all –46 out of 49 – of his hits were singles, and his on-base percentage was a mediocre.284. Nonetheless, he was considered a defensive catcher, although these talents have been overshadowed by those of Buck Ewing. When not catching, Holbert would often play the outfield, he started 11% of his games there, list of Major League Baseball player–managers Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference James, Bill Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Villard Books, New York. Nemec, David, The Beer and Whisky League, The Illustrated History of the American Association—Baseballs Renegade Major League, sports Metrika,1887 New York Metropolitans statistics Sugar, Bert Randolph The Baseball Maniacs Almanac, McGraw-Hill, New York. Morris, Peter Catcher, How the Man Behind the Plate Became an American Folk Hero, Ivan R. Dee, New York Metropolitans 1884 schedule at Baseball Almanac New York Metropolitans at Baseball Almanac
11.
Dan Brouthers
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Dennis Joseph Dan Brouthers was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from 1879 to 1896, with a brief return in 1904. Nicknamed Big Dan for his size, he was 6 feet 2 inches and weighed 207 pounds and his career slugging percentage of.519 remained the Major League record for a player with at least 4,000 at bats until Ty Cobb edged ahead of him in 1922. At the time of his retirement, he also ranked second in career triples. A dominant hitter during the prime of his career, he led the league in most offensive categories, including batting average, runs scored, runs batted in, on-base percentage and hits. He led the league in batting five times, the most by a 19th-century player. Brouthers is one of only 29 players in history to date who have appeared in Major League games in four decades. He was also an active union member, and was elected vice president of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players. Brouthers was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945 by the Veterans Committee. Born in Sylvan Lake, New York, he played organized baseball from the time that he was a child, from playing in the local sandlots to the semi-professional Actives of Wappingers Falls, New York. On July 7,1877, while running the bases, he collided at home plate with a catcher, named Johnny Quigley, Quigley was knocked unconscious, having suffered a traumatic head injury, and later died from these injuries on August 12. The 19-year-old Brouthers was cleared of any wrongdoing by the authorities, Brouthers made his Major League debut on June 23,1879, for the Troy Trojans, and contributed a single in a come-from-behind victory against the Syracuse Stars. Although he was a first baseman, he was called upon to pitch that season with the Trojans in three games, one of which was on August 21 against Tommy Bond and the Boston Red Caps. Brouthers lost 16–0, and within two weeks he was released from the club and he hit.274 that first season, with four home runs, and had 17 RBIs in 39 games played. He hit well enough in the minors to get another shot with the Trojans and he got his first chance to be an everyday player in 1881, when he was signed by the Bisons, the team that he did well against the previous year. That season he batted.319, and played with them until the team folded after the 1885 season, in his first season with the Bisons, he led the National League in home runs and slugging percentage. Brouthers, along with teammates Jack Rowe, Hardy Richardson and Deacon White, in 1882 and 1883 he won his first two batting titles, posting.368 and.374 averages, respectively. On July 19,1883, Brouthers went 6-for-6 with two doubles in a 25–5 defeat of the Philadelphia Quakers. At the end of the 1885 season, Buffalo was going through financial trouble and were forced to sell off their players, so The Big Four were sold to the Detroit Wolverines of the NL for US$7,000
12.
Herm Doscher
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He also served as a regular umpire in both early major leagues, the NL and American Association. His son Jack was a major league pitcher for several years, Jack Doscher was the first son of a major leaguer to also play in the majors. Born in New York City, Doscher began his career in the National Association with the 1872 Brooklyn Atlantics as a right fielder. He only played in six games that year, but batted.360 and he didnt play in the Association in 1874, but did return for the 1875 season when he played in 22 games, all at third base, for the Washington Nationals. He didnt hit well, and was only able to play in the minor leagues for the next few seasons. One of his stops was with the London Tecumsehs in 1877 and he reached the National League again in 1879, when he joined the Troy Trojans. He appeared in 25 games in 1882, ending his playing career, in 1882, he accepted a temporary job as a scout with Cleveland, even though he had signed a contract with the Detroit Wolverines for the 1883 season. The Cleveland directors had him expelled from the league for embezzelment and it was later proven in NYC court that the original contract was never signed by Detroit, voiding the original contract. He was unanimously reinstated in 1886, and returned to umpiring in the American Association in 1887, known as a colorful, but a no-nonsense, hardline player, he was a natural to the umpiring profession. Once quoted as saying Ive got to play ring master, school teacher, poppa and momma and his full-time return as an umpire lasted just three season,1887,1888 and 1890, but his officiating career was not without notable occurrences. He was involved in two no-hitters, one occurred on August 19,1880, when he was the umpire for Larry Corcorans no-hitter, the other was Adonis Terrys no-hitter on May 27,1888, Terrys second career no-hitter. It was Doschers only forfeit on record as an umpire, Doschers occupations in subsequent years include work as a scout, the discovery of future Hall of Famer Willie Keeler is attributed to him. Doscher died in Buffalo, New York at the age of 81, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Retrosheet
13.
Thorny Hawkes
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Thorndike Proctor Thorny Hawkes was an American Major League Baseball second baseman, who played a total of two seasons in the Majors. Hawkes began his playing for teams in his hometown of Danvers. He then played for the Lynn Live Oaks and for Manchester of the New England League, in his first major league season was in 1879 for the Troy Trojans. He played 64 games as the starting second baseman. On July 30,1879 he set two records by fielding 18 chances without an error and making 12 putouts without an error and his second was with the 1884 Washington Nationals of the short-lived Union Association. He played in 38 games as the starting second baseman. He finished his career with 102 games played, a.234 batting average, scored 40 runs, ten doubles, after retiring from baseball, Hawkes worked as a pharmacist and owned a drugstore in Danvers for many years. Hawkes died at the age of 76 in Danvers and is interred at Holten Street Cemetery, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
14.
Jake Evans
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Uriah L. P. Bloody Jake Evans was a right fielder in Major League Baseball from 1879 to 1885. Evans played for the Troy Trojans, Worcester Ruby Legs, Cleveland Blues and he was 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 154 pounds. Evans was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1856 and he started his professional baseball career in 1877, playing for the Rhode Islands of the New England League. The following season, he played in the International Association, in 1879, Evans joined the National Leagues Troy Trojans, making his major league debut on May 1. He played 72 games that season and hit.232 with 17 runs batted in, Evans never had an OPS+ total above 98 in the majors, but he was a good outfielder with a strong throwing arm. In 1880 and 1881, Evans batted.256 and.241 and he then played for the Worcester Ruby Legs in 1882. His batting average dropped to a career-low.213, but he led all National League outfielders in assists with 31 and he moved on to the Cleveland Blues in 1883, where he was praised for his fielding. In 1884, Evans right arm popped out of its socket as he was throwing the ball in right field. However, that was his last full season in professional baseball, Evans played 20 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 1885 before retiring from the game at the age of 28. He died in Baltimore in 1907 and was buried in Baltimore Cemetery, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Jake Evans at Find a Grave
15.
Tom Mansell
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Thomas Edward Mansell was a 19th-century professional baseball player. Mansell played outfield for parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball,1879,1883, and 1884 and he played a total of eleven seasons professionally, from 1877 until 1887. His brothers John and Mike also played baseball professionally, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
